Birds' defense nonexistent once more

New York Giants wide receiver Rueben Randle (82) dives for a touchdown as Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha (24) tackles him during the first half of an NFL football game on Sunday, Dec. 30, 2012, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - It was, by all accurate admissions in the locker room, just another game for the Eagles. Hadn’t they spent almost the entire 2012 season essentially proving just that?

Maybe they had too many injuries to count. Perhaps the sealed fate of head coach Andy Reid overshadowed everything else that was wrong for too long. But while losing 11 of their final 12 games, including Sunday’s 42-7 debacle in the Meadowlands to the New York Giants, the Eagles maintained one obvious constant: They couldn’t stop anybody when it counted.

For the Giants, starting the final countdown on the Eagles’ season and Reid’s head coaching tenure began shortly after kickoff - one that for old time’s sake was ordered by Reid to be an on-side surprise.

The Eagles took that recovery and ran ... right into a Michael Vick interception. For not-so old time’s sake. It was about then that the Giants took possession of the ball and the Eagles’ defense immediately kicked into normal working mode:

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Putting little to no pressure on Giants quarterback Eli Manning.

Allowing the Giants’ offensive line to carve craters for running back Ahmad Bradshaw (16 carries, 107 yards and a touchdown).

Having no clue how to defend the Giants’ passing game.

“Terrible. Absolutely terrible,” Eagles defensive end Cullen Jenkins said. “We go out there and get an on-side kick at the beginning. We finally get a good bounce that definitely went in our favor ... and I don’t know what happened, but 15 minutes later we’re down 21-0 and it’s still in the first quarter.”

That first-series Vick pick was returned 48 yards by the Giants’ Stevie Brown, proving that the Eagles’ offense is just as bad at tackling as their defense.

From there, it took four plays before Manning hit Rueben Randle for a 3-yard scoring toss. It took another six minutes before Manning found Randle again, this time for a 38-yard touchdown pass that left Eagles cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha grasping at air.

And reaching for answers.

“One touchdown, the guy should have never caught,” Asomugha said later, while still looking like he was lost in the lights of MetLife Stadium. “I was in good position for it and I just had to locate the ball. Then there were a couple of other catches I didn’t make plays on.”

Yeah, but at least only one other one resulted in a touch. For the Eagles’ $15 million a year cornerback, maybe that could be called progress.

“I was kind of just off; I couldn’t really get out of it,” Asomugha said - meaning this game, not his whole year. “I’m surprised with the way it ended up. This was one of those games that no one can really explain. It was just bad on our part. We didn’t play like that - not like that - this year. So to end like that doesn’t feel good at all.”

That might be Asomugha’s take on the Eagles’ defenseless situation, but perhaps a few million of their fans might disagree. From the immobile pass rushers to the overwhelmed linebackers to the clueless corners, this Eagles defense was as bad in this game against the Giants as it had been ... well, so many other times this season.

Maybe it looked a little worse because almost everyone in an Eagles uniform exuded an air of surrender almost right from this game’s first minute.

Reid’s sentimental on-sides gimmick - which he’d done successfully a couple of times early in his Eagles career - notwithstanding, the Eagles looked nothing like a team bent on “winning one for Andy.”

Or winning anything for their own self-respect.

“No heart, no ... I mean, it’s pretty bad,” Jenkins said. “It’s the last game of the season and the way the season’s been, I thought we’d go out there and at least try to end it with a bang. Well, we ended it with a bang, all right.”

The non-existent Eagles defense took that first Giants score and let Manning run with it. There was the follow-up TD pass to Randle, then a 15-yard touchdown pass to David Wilson with 1:29 left in the first quarter.

The Giants scored touchdowns on their first three possessions of the game, and five of them in their first six drives. This on a day that was presumed all along to be Reid’s farewell game as Eagles coach. In retrospect, maybe his players were trying to prove a point to Lurie.

You know, play so badly that you convince ownership that no head coach can win with these guys?

Sounds like a plan. One difficult to defend, of course.

“Any time you have rough seasons, especially a season like this, there’s going to be changes,” Jenkins said. “That’s just the business part of it. But what the changes are going to be, who knows? You can try to come back and play hard the next week, but there is none of that anymore. Everybody has pled their case through their play for this whole year. And it’s been a rough one.

“I thought we’d come out and play a whole lot better game than this. It’s just tough. Whether it was (missed) assignments or lack of effort, I’m not sure. We have to figure it out.”